K2 wrote:I think it's ridiculous that we don't play the Blue Jackets more often. The geography could make for a rivalry

K2, I couldn't agree with you more. They're no more than about three hours apart from each other and close enough to get a rivalry going. It's sad that they don't attempt to get all divisions in the schedule for every team each year.

Is the problem that the league is too big (referencing another thread) or there are too few games that are in the system? I don't want to go too far in this since the other thread has discussion over expansion.

PenguinDouger wrote:Is the problem that the league is too big (referencing another thread) or there are too few games that are in the system? I don't want to go too far in this since the other thread has discussion over expansion.

The problem is that some jagoff decided we needed to play EIGHT games against the teams in our division and FOUR against everyone else in the confrence.

PenguinDouger wrote:Is the problem that the league is too big (referencing another thread) or there are too few games that are in the system? I don't want to go too far in this since the other thread has discussion over expansion.

The problem is that some jagoff decided we needed to play EIGHT games against the teams in our division and FOUR against everyone else in the confrence.

If you reduce the number of intradivision games to 6 that leaves 8 games to make up.

So we could to 6 in the division: 24 games
4 in the conference: 40 games

Now for the other conference, still have a rotation but we do a home and home vs one division then visit one and then host one for 20 games

Well, with the number of teams in the league now, it's not exactly easy to come up with a balanced schedule for each team with the right ratio of intradivision and intraconference games to make all the groupings of teams meaningful and still playing every team in the league.

I'm of the school of thought that you should play the teams in your division more than other teams. It just makes sense. The teams in your division are closer in proximity which makes them more natural rivals and when first place in a division means something you should have to go through your division to get it. And when all the teams in a conference are competing against each other for a playoff spot, you should face those teams more than the teams in the other conference who aren't directly competing with you.

Given that, I think every team has to play the teams in the same conference but different divisions the same number of times as other teams to keep things fair. Given the point system in the NHL, things stay pretty close now so you've got to keep the schedules balanced to keep things fair.

So how can you make a schedule that works? DelPen's idea is the only one that really works but it also includes adding games to the schedule. Of course, many critics complain because the season is too long. I'm sure there is an overlap between those that say that and those that also complain because every team doesn't play every team. I just don't think you can win here. There's a reason the schedule is set up the way it is and that's because with the way the league is set up there's no easy solution. The only real way is to create an unbalanced schedule and I don't like that idea with the way the playoff system works in hockey.

PenguinDouger wrote:Is the problem that the league is too big (referencing another thread) or there are too few games that are in the system? I don't want to go too far in this since the other thread has discussion over expansion.

The problem is that some jagoff decided we needed to play EIGHT games against the teams in our division and FOUR against everyone else in the confrence.

I like the 8 games as it makes for more of a rivalry and makes those games crucial to win.

I won't argue with the thought process behind that (and I do agree to a certain extent) but wouldn't six games do that just fine? I think so.

I guess my problem is like this past season when the Pens played the Isles three or four times in a two week span - that's just ridiculous.